Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Riverstone Advisors LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Riverstone Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,467 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,152 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 12.0% of Riverstone Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Riverstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $388.91 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.00 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $334.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $320.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Freedom Capital downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. HSBC lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $412.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google I/O showcase highlighted a broad AI push across Search, Gemini, Workspace, shopping, coding, and video tools, reinforcing expectations that Google can monetize AI rather than just defend against competitors. Google debuts new AI models, personal AI agents in effort to keep pace with OpenAI and Anthropic
• Positive Sentiment: Google and Blackstone announced a $5 billion joint venture to build AI cloud infrastructure powered by Google’s TPU chips, which could expand demand for Alphabet’s custom silicon and strengthen its enterprise AI ecosystem. Google, Blackstone to create new AI cloud company, WSJ reports
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analysts turned more constructive after I/O, with firms including BofA, KeyCorp, Citizens JMP, Needham, and others reiterating or raising targets, signaling confidence that Alphabet’s AI strategy is gaining traction. Alphabet analyst forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet said Gemini now has 900 million monthly users and AI Overviews has 2.5 billion monthly users, showing that its AI products are already operating at significant scale. Google kicks off I/O conference with AI upgrades for coders, consumers
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also introduced new AI-powered search and shopping features, including agentic tools and a universal cart, which could open additional monetization opportunities. Google’s new Universal Cart wants to follow you across the entire internet
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider and shareholder sales were disclosed, including a director sale and a larger shareholder sale, but these appear to be routine filings rather than a clear signal of changing fundamentals. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Ofcom said YouTube and TikTok have not done enough to protect British children from harmful content, adding another layer of regulatory scrutiny for Alphabet’s YouTube business. TikTok, YouTube lag on UK child safety as rivals act, regulator says
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors worry that Google’s AI-heavy search redesign could pressure its core ad model by reducing reliance on the traditional “ten blue links” format. Google Search as you know it is over

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.